Hey, Joe

Not you, Joe Biden. You, Joe the Plumber — Joe Wurzelbacher. You were the center of attention in last night’s debate. Both Barack Obama and John McCain invoked your authority and sought your approval. You proved yourself to be a very powerful man.

You made your name when you told Barack Obama you were afraid he would raise your taxes and Obama responded that he wanted to spread “the wealth” (i.e., your wealth) around. In American political lore Abraham Lincoln sowed the seeds of his victory over Stephen Douglas in 1860 with a single question that he put to Douglas at Freeport in the course of their 1858 debates. You may have had a similar effect.

Whether or not you choose to step forward and make your own case, your expression of concern and Obama’s response will serve as a marker in the days to come. With your expression of concern you may have become the most famous critic of Barack Obama in the United States.

That’s quite a distincition when prominent writers such as Stanley Kurtz, David Fredosso and Michael Barone are still working to expose Obama’s unsavory views and associations. You showed how one man can make a difference.

You may have heard that Obama doesn’t take kindly to critics. Indeed, Michael Barone refers to an Obama presidency as “the coming thugocracy.”

In the old song “Hey, Joe,” Joe has shot his “old lady.” He has to head out to Mexico in order to stay free. But you didn’t do anything wrong. All you did was say you want to be free. I’m thinking that if Obama is elected president you too may have to head “down to Mexico way” to stay free, but we need you to stick around.